If you're looking for quality, there's no beating the Absolute edition. That book was specifically designed to be the definitive Watchmen experience in terms of visibility, color, and durability. The 2008 hardcover is still quite good, however. Unfortunately, I can't comment on the 2013 edition. I wonder if that one comes packaged with any of that Before Watchmen stuff.

What it really comes down to is that whether you're buying a TPB or the Absolute edition, it's still Watchmen. The quality is in the story.

_________________This is truly a madhouse. And I'm the lunatic running it. I've spent three years wondering if I should be proud or ashamed.

didnt the 08 hardcover remove the smiley faces because they claimed some copyright nonsense on it, so it was literally just a yellow badge?

No... although The Comedian's badge is completely absent on the front cover (which it shouldn't be since he's depicted post 'Nam wearing the gimp mask) only because this edition went and regurgitated what was only ever concept art by Gibbons produced whilst WATCHMEN was still in its initial planning stages, hence the other characters also appear somewhat 'off'.

Both the 2008 and 2013 releases feature the same recoloured artwork first created for 2005's oversized ABSOLUTE WATCHMEN edition and include pretty much the same supplementary 'behind the scenes' bonus material so are on a par with one another, although the Deluxe version does come in slightly larger in size.

If you're after the whole story from beginning to end for the first time, avoid the recent Artifact Edition as this is incomplete, many pages of the original artwork having been 'lost' over the years, i.e. in the hands of private collectors, and therefore unavailable for reproduction and inclusion in this latest version.

And I got the original twelve comics, they're still in fantastic condition, even after having them for about thirty years now!

Perhaps you could start by telling us all how you first came to discover Watchmen. Personally, I first bought the book back in early '07 because of rumors that the film adaptation was finally coming together. That and I needed something to read on a long flight.

Already a fan of Messrs Moore, Gibbons and Higgins courtesy of their late 70's/early 80's output for the home-grown British comics scene followed by various fledgling forays into the US market (most notably Swamp Thing), the announcement of a "maxi-series" collaboration for DC as heralded by the intriguing WATCHMEN character teaser posters starting to appear in the trades and comics stores (ah, the original - and best - Forbidden Planet in London's Tin Pan Alley) was too tantalising an invitation to ignore. Got hold of the first issue in September 1986 and was instantly hooked... still remember the loooooong wait for issue two to hit the shelves a month later.